Rebecca Ferguson continues to prove she is one of Hollywood’s busiest and most sought-after actresses with reports emerging that she will star in Denis Villeneuve‘s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune. Ferguson would be playing Lady Jessica, mother to Timothee Chalamet‘s Paul Atreides.
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The Hollywood Reporter describes Dune as tackling “political, religious and environmental themes through a sci-fi lens, telling the complex story of a fallen noble family’s attempt to control a desert planet named Arrakis and its export, a rare spice drug, while being betrayed by a galactic emperor.”
Chalamet’s Atreides is “the son of the ruler of the family, who is forced to escape into the desert wastelands and partner with its nomadic tribes. Using enhanced mental abilities, he eventually rises to become their ruler, with the nomads believing he is their messiah,and leads an army to overthrow the empire.”
The story was previously adapted into a film in 1984 from director David Lynch, though that film failed to capture the many complex themes of the source material. Villeneuve seems fully prepared to compensate for that adaptation’s shortcomings, detailing his approach to Yahoo! Movies.
“David Lynch did an adaptation in the ’80s that has some very strong qualities,” the filmmaker revealed. “I mean, David Lynch is one of the best filmmakers alive, I have massive respect for him. But when I saw his adaptation, I was impressed, but it was not what I had dreamed of, so I’m trying to make the adaptation of my dreams. It will not have any link with the David Lynch movie. I’m going back to the book, and going to the images that came out when I read it.”
Throughout the ’70s and early-’80s, seminal filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky attempted to adapt the project, despite running into multiple roadblocks along the way. The rights for the project eventually lapsed, though many of his pitched concepts and storyboards found their way into not only Dune, but multiple sci-fi projects throughout the following decade, as chronicled in the documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune.
The story was last adapted into a mini-series for SYFY in 2000.
Ferguson’s breakout role came in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, reprising her role in this summer’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout. The actress will also be seen in the upcoming Men in Black spin-off with Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson as well as the sequel to Stephen King’s The Shining, Doctor Sleep, alongside Ewan McGregor
Stay tuned for details about Dune.
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[H/T The Hollywood Reporter]
